How about a music challenge?

[saintivan]

@Arkane, Thanks for your thoughts. The idea of a judges panel has been discussed; I am open to it, but continue to think members would enjoy being able to vote. Music, like all art forms, is subjective, and though professional musicians may be able to rate a piece of music on levels others can't, everyone is equally capable of choosing which piece of music they like best, even if they can't articulate why.

@diamond16: Thanks for offering to help organize the music challenge. What involvement did you have with challenges on other forums?

 

[Arkane609]

@Arkane, Thanks for your thoughts. The idea of a judges panel has been discussed; I am open to it, but continue to think members would enjoy being able to vote. Music, like all art forms, is subjective, and though professional musicians may be able to rate a piece of music on levels others can't, everyone is equally capable of choosing which piece of music they like best, even if they can't articulate why.

This is what I was afraid of, to be honest. Though I greatly appreciate everyone voting for a song, some of those votes might not be well thought out. For example, someone voted for a certain person's song even though they didn't listen to it and just voted because the composer is said person's friend or was asked to vote for him. Another example would be that people will just listen to whoever is popular among the participants, disregarding every other song presented, and automatically vote for that famous particpant, making it unfair for the rest of the not so popular participants, I guess you could say. As much as I want to rely on the honor code, these things are unavoidable. Hence why I want to limit the interaction of non judges to a certain degree.

However, I believe I've thought of an alternative that would also be interactive to non judges. BUT since it has already been discussed, I would assume that this is something that will not be changed so I won't bother elaborating on it. If you do change your mind, let me know and I'll be happy to assist.

Aside from that, having been in the industry for seven years, I would be more than happy to offer my services to this competition in whatever seems appropriate.

 

[saintivan]

@Arkane: Thank you for offering to be involved in the music challenge. If we decide to choose the winners by a panel, it seems we already have several musicians who are willing to judge. I have read posts from several people, including yourself, who prefer that format, and not much from the other side (where each member would have an equal vote).

 

[Lars Ulrika]

How about just providing badges to the winner(s) like in other challenges? I'm all for a jury only system for two reasons : 

1st - As said above, "let's vote for my friend" thing. 

2nd - A jury of experienced musicians should be more able to put aside their musical tastes and not end up voting for the most popular music style. 

That said, most important is make something that can make us improve and have fun.

 

[diamond16]

@diamond16: Thanks for offering to help organize the music challenge. What involvement did you have with challenges on other forums?

With the previous contests I've been involved with, the winner of the previous contest would choose the theme of the next contest and be the sole judge of all of the entries.  It works well mostly although there are sometimes instances where the judge's favourite wasn't the people's choice and vice versa.

With a continuously revolving judge, you get a lot of creativity in the contest themes.

There was also a prize for people who won the contests 3 times consecutively (so they won, judged, won, judged, won) Of course this system can be abused but I've found the communities are very supportive of the entrants and intolerant of those who try to play the system.

 

[Arkane609]

Here's a thing. Why not have two separate awards for the same contest?

There's the people's choice where the community gets to vote. And there's the elite's choice where the judges are the only ones allowed to vote. Where the people's choice winners would receive a badge and their song would be added to a compilation of sorts (maybe a forum exclusive music pack). While the elite's choice would have a higher level of prestige. Though I'm not quite sure how the prize for the elite's choice would go about.

Note: I only used "elite" for lack of a better word. I do not intend to create a segregation among musicians and non musicians.

 

[saintivan]

@ Lars Ulrika: I think a badge for the winner makes the most sense.

@ Arkane609: That's a good outside-the-box notion; two separate awards, one where all members would get to vote, and another where the judge panel votes.

@ Sharm: Would the above be okay?

@diamond16: Your idea of a revolving judge (the musician who wins would get to judge the next contest as well as pick the theme) is interesting. Perhaps it could be the judging format for the Musician's Choice award if the other musicians agree. 

 

[diamond16]

Well it looks like there's a demand for the competition and we have several options for determining a winner, shall we organise something for August?

 

[DaveyBriteRPG]

Yes i would very much like that!!!

Can't wait

 

[saintivan]

diamond16 said: "Well it looks like there's a demand for the competition and we have several options for determining a winner, shall we organise something for August? "

I agree. I would like to hear back from Sharm or another moderator if badges will be awarded before opening up the actual competition. In the meantime, discussion is open for what the first month's music challenge will be. I think we should start with an RPG maker BMG category (Town, Dungeon, etc.).

 

[saintivan]

BGM, heh.

 

[DaveyBriteRPG]

Saintivan, since the idea was originally yours, i think you should be the one to pick the first category.

After that the winners can choose i guess?

Any ideas who's going to organize it and when the August one will start?

 

[Scythuz]

Do you guys want me to bring this up with the rest of the staff?

 

[DaveyBriteRPG]

That would be ideal.

 

[saintivan]

@ Scythuz: Yes, that would be much appreciated.

@DaveyBriteRPG: Thank you. My idea is for two separate tracks which are similar (same key, same chord progression), enough to be easily recognized as variations of the same piece, yet different enough to be used as separate tracks in the same game. They can be any RPG Maker BGM category (Dungeon, Town, etc.).